I'm 49 and will be 50 in January. With the success of New Horizons, being the first humans to ever see Pluto is mind blowing, I was wondering if I/we will ever see a probe or exploration of Uranus and Neptune? Are there any plans for exploring these two planets in the near future?

In the last decadal survey (for missions through 2022), a Uranus orbiter and probe mission was ranked third after a Mars sample return cacher and a Europa orbiter/multiple flyby mission. Given budget realities, I think it's very unlikely that a Uranus mission will happen in that time period, and after that, who knows?

--------------------

Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.

It seems like Europa, Titan, Io, and Enceladus could keep trumping Uranus and Neptune plans for decades. Titan, certainly, has merit comparable to Mars for repeated generations of missions, except the cruise time is unfortunately much longer so the iterations would have to be ~decadal instead of biennial, and the same may be said of Europa.

I just posted about the incredible capabilities expected of the EELT when it comes online in Chile c. 2024. Boasting 16 times the resolution of HST, it could view the Uranus system with about half the resolution that HST can image Mars. That could perform some pretty nice science from the ground. In the case of Uranus, that's particularly nice because the axial inclination means that the full range of seasons/latitudes could only be observed by a long-life orbiter, while something on the ground can sit and wait for the opportunities as they come.

In the last decadal survey (for missions through 2022), a Uranus orbiter and probe mission was ranked third after a Mars sample return cacher and a Europa orbiter/multiple flyby mission. Given budget realities, I think it's very unlikely that a Uranus mission will happen in that time period, and after that, who knows?

Thank you for the link for the Uranus and Neptune Orbiter and Probe Concept Studies. It is fascinating reading.

I'm hoping for the same thing, but am guessing other things will get more attention and money, unless mission costs come way down somehow (AI, robot manufacturing, nanosatellites, laser sails, who knows...). I'm about the same age so have another 40 years or so to see what happens.

But here are some proposed Uranus/Neptune orbiters anyway, with some possible launch dates -

Thank you for the link for the Uranus and Neptune Orbiter and Probe Concept Studies. It is fascinating reading.

Fascinating indeed. I think Uranus has more chance of a green flag of the two, as the proposed mission has a similar launch/cruise timescale to New Horizons (NH). Interesting that 50% of the instruments proposed have NH heritage too, and that the proposed orbiter itself looks superficially like New Horizons.

Aerocapture seems to be a serious consideration, albeit with a $150-$200 million price tag for development.

Science priorities are focussed on atmosphere/magnetosphere/gravity and thermal emission science with satellite imagery taking a back seat. Without wanting to be controversial, I wonder how memorable to the general public the Cassini mission would have been had the satellite observations been descoped due to costs....

That said, I'm all for a mission of any description to an ice giant, I just hope I'm around to marvel at the results.

I would hope that the several newer national space programs will start to carve out niches for themselves, exploring some places that are otherwise being ignored. For the time being, it's not surprising that these programs have sent a few missions to the Moon and Mars, but perhaps they'll branch out to plant their metaphorical flag somewhere they can be first. But Uranus and Neptune aren't easy targets to start with, and don't provide a speedy payoff in terms of PR and national pride.

The outer solar system has several remarkable targets competing for few launches with very long cruise times. Uranus and Neptune could get bumped by other priorities for a long time. In the meantime, the capabilities of Earth-based telescopes are improving dramatically, and those two planets themselves will be monitored remotely more or less continuously from now on. The satellites, however, are hard to resolve without a dedicated mission.

Imho there is no other option than sending dedicated orbiter (or even a lander) to the uranian / neptunian system. You will never get such dramaticaly high quality photos of Uranus' moons using earth-based hardware. Moreover, many in-situ "investigations" give much more answers than pointing the telescope localised on Earth.

IMAGE COPYRIGHT
Images posted on UnmannedSpaceflight.com may be copyrighted.
Do not reproduce without permission. Read
here for further information on space images and copyright.

OPINIONS AND MODERATION
Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the
individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions
of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer
UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent
of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence
over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators.

SUPPORT THE FORUM
Unmannedspaceflight.com is a project of the Planetary Society
and is funded by donations from visitors and members. Help keep
this forum up and running by contributing
here.